Practical geochemistry / Практическая геохимия

This textbook had an unusual inception. I had just started writing another one, on isotopes in the natural sciences, and was discussing it with a colleague, who surprised me and startled me. He commented that, in substance, a book about isotopes is all very nice, but that I should write a general introductory geochemistry book. I was taken aback: there are plenty of these out there already! From Brownlow [1] to Albarede [2], Misra [3], and White [4], to name just a few, there are several excellent general introductory geochemistry textbooks available, widely used by university students around the world. And once we include more specialized books, for instance about isotopes or geochronology, then we can fill not only shelves, but whole library sections with them! And really, I pointed out to my colleague that they are mostly very good, thorough, and complete textbooks, so the topic is well covered. Ah yes, he retorted, so they are, but they are not good for me, not at all. They are, he explained, much too theoretical and not practical at all. They are very good for those students who will likely later specialize in geochemistry; they are an excellent first step for them. They are written by geochemists for future geochemists. However, my colleague pointed out that they are not practical: they have plenty of theory (thermodynamics, bonding, equilibria, reactions, and so on), which often takes a third of the book and sometimes more than a half (as in Misra [3]). But the majority of the practising geologists do not need this theory in their everyday work, nor do the students just beginning to learn about geochemistry. Some very practical concepts (for instance, sampling, analytical techniques, data treatment, isocons, Pearce element ratios, spatial statistics, and many many others) are not mentioned at all in any of the general geochemistry books listed above. The same applies to mineral exploration, which is 
not mentioned at all in any geochemistry books; the beginner geochemist who wishes to use geochemistry for exploration must go directly to and struggle with some heavyduty books on the topic, while they should be learning the basics. No doubt, my colleague concluded, that geochemistry has a reputation of being esoteric and abstract!

And he left it at that.
My mind of an experienced geochemist rebelled at these assertions. Not true, I exclaimed! These are excellent books, thoughtful, detailed, complete, and up to date; I have them all and use them often. But the seed of doubt had been planted. The more I protested, the more I felt that maybe, just maybe, my colleague could be right. I scrutinized the books I have, on both general geochemistry and more specialized ones, and reluctantly came to the realization that yes, they are not practical. Somewhere in me, the notion that I should write this book started to grow as I was more and more convinced that yes, the world does need another geochemistry book: a practical and straightforward one. <...>